Kindred Spirits
by Vanguard523
Summary: They killed out of revenge. They sowed fear among their victims. They were guided by otherworldly spirits. Neither could be stopped.
1. Chapter 1

Talion saw his target running into the distance and inwardly smirked. The warchief was dead and he didn't even know it. With practiced proficiency, Celebrimbor temporarily took control over his ranger counterpart and moved with the speed of a shadow to thrust Urfael into their opponent's neck before beheading him, causing all other observing uruks to lose morale and sprint in different directions.

As the warchief's blood fed the fields of Nurn, the Bright Lord retrieved the rune that he left behind, imbuing their bow with extraordinary power. Talion then sighed, sheathed his legendary blade and looked around. The time was nearing when they would be able to forge a new ring and forever destroy Sauron along with his army.

"Another pawn falls." Celebrimbor observed as he phased next to Talion.

"Indeed. However it is the king who must be removed before peace can reign once more." With a silent nod of agreement, the Elven ring-smith disappeared as the former captain of the Black Gate moved to the location of his next target towards the Nurnen fishery.

Sprinting along the road laid out by the uruks and his mind elsewhere, the ranger almost missed the presence of another man approaching from the left between two small mountains. He was quite tall, had no visible hair on his head, wore a mask that covered his face entirely, a slightly shredded brown jacket, black shirt and black pants with matching boots. Upon further inspection, Talion also noticed he held a blood-stained blade resembling something an uruk would use in his right hand, dripping black onto the land. It was short and straight with a rounded edge but without a doubt lethal.

"Be careful." Celebrimbor advised. "I sense something more to him than meets the eye." The ranger disregarded his warning and slowed his pace as the two men began to meet.

"Are you one of the tribesman?" He asked the mysterious man. No answer as Talion stopped and the man continued his approach. "Just who are y-" That was as far as he got before the other man seized his throat in a mighty death-grip, plunged the blade into his stomach and kicked him away, blood quickly flowing from the wound.

Severely injured but not dead, Talion swiftly got up and drew Urfael as his assailant continued to move forth. The other man slashed at him and although Talion blocked the strike, he could tell there was immense power behind it. With a sharp push, the attacker's blade flew outwards and Talion went on the offensive as he wraith-stunned the man and both ranger and wraith slashed repeatedly and adding more gashes to the attacker's chest before delivering a disorienting punch to the head, sending him sprawling to the ground.

What happened next was extremely strange however. The other man was on the ground, clearly weakened and when Talion attempted to brand him, nothing happened. Even when he had dealt with uruks who were more strong-willed than their underlings, they showed signs of being influenced by the attack by shaking their heads before returning to combat. This man however, merely stood and resumed his assault.

The Bright Lord paid for their failed attempt at recruiting another follower when the assailant wrapped his arms around Talion's midsection lifted him two feet off the ground, constricting his arms and crushing the bones within his chest and limbs before a hand pushed against his chin and snapped his neck so hard that the flesh between the head and chest tore open. Talion's head was now facing the opposite way it should've been as blood sprung from his throat onto his killer's clothes.

Defeated, Talion was still able to see from his lifeless eyes as the man dropped his body to the ground and left without a word. No final insult, no sarcastic comment, nothing.

Whoever this man was, he had just made a very powerful enemy.


	2. Know Thy Enemy

(AN: Hi guys, really sorry about delaying the story for two months but in December I went through a loss in my family and in January I was on vacation but I'm still dedicated to finishing this story and giving it my full attention. Again, I apologize for the delay and would like to say that this story is still in progress and not dead.)

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Talion had spilt more than his fair share of blood during his lifetime, but the ferocity and ruthlessness displayed by this man made him sick to his stomach. As ranger and wraith observed from a distance, the orcs could only shout in pain as they futilely attempted to kill the mysterious man. As he held one uruk with his left hand and snapped his neck with a flick of his wrist, another defender stabbed him through the back with his pike. The reaction was nothing short of astounding as he appeared to ignore the pain, slowly turn his head to face the attacker and cleave him in half with a single slash of his weapon, removing the pike from his abdomen a second later. Ever since his previous death at the hands of this man, the rain had not let up and continued drenching the ground.

Then came the voice, one Talion recognized all too well. That of Mormog Ranger-Killer, a vicious marksman who'd earned the title after defeating Talion three times.

"Someone's been tearing through my boys!" He declared. "You better watch out, Tark! I'm coming for you!" His voice echoed out through the Nurnen Fishery.

"How can a single man cause so much bloodshed?" Talion questioned his wraith compatriot.

Celebrimbor phased next to him and merely shook his head. "It is beyond even my knowledge." The wraith stated. But he couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was much more to this man than himself or Talion could see. Celebrimbor shook his head and turned to his ranger compatriot. "It matters not, the warchief will soon finish him. If even we couldn't kill him, he has no chance."

Talion gave a light chuckle and turned back to the action. The man had seen Ranger-Killer approaching with his two defender bodyguards in tow and began marching forth. The orc cocked his head when he realized that the approaching human was not his nemesis, but desired to kill him nonetheless. Giving a small nod to his bodyguards, they raised their shields and moved in front of him, slowly moving forth as they did so. Mormog loaded a bolt into his crossbow and fired directly at the masked man's skull, sure to end him. However, when the bolt was a mere foot away from his face, the man raised his arm to shield against the attack and even as the projectile protruded through his left forearm, the event was ignored by him, but stunned every observer including the Bright Lord.

At this point, Mormog began panicking and his hands began to shake as he fired three more bolts in quick succession at the intruder, this time into his chest but even though they all struck true, the man's movement was unhindered as he kicked one bodyguard's metal shield hard enough that it sent the uruk flying twenty feet backwards into a wooden pylon, the force of the impact shattering his unprotected skull while the other attempted to stab the man, only for him to grab the blade of his pike, rip it from his grasp and use it to sever his shield arm before plunging the blade into his throat, leaving him coughing up black blood while simultaneously gasping for air.

Talion and Celebrimbor's eyes went wide at the display of physical prowess before them. The bodyguards were the whole reason that they were unable to get close to Mormog in the first place while the warchief himself fired volleys of bolts from behind the safety of their shields. But yet this man had just single-handedly taken care of them both within less than ten seconds. Mormog went into a panicked frenzy and stumbled backwards as his assailant proceeded forth, but the uruk tripped over a rock and landed on his back.

"P-please! J-just let me live and I swear I'll fight for you!" He begged. Suddenly, the man stopped his advance and dropped his weapon, allowing the blade to sink into the mud. His masked head turned slightly to the right, as if looking to someone who was behind him. He then gave an almost unperceivable nod and tightly grabbed Mormog around the neck, lifting him high above the ground.

The following show of brutality caused both ranger and wraith to gag. The last thing that Mormog heard before his death was an echoing whisper than sent a chill to his very soul. Still dangling above the ground, his assailant delved his free right hand into his chest, feeling the appendage scrape against his intestines and rib cage until he felt the man-terror latch onto his spine and rip it from the uruk's body. Death was immediate of course but that didn't appear to be enough for this monster as he used the spine and attached skull to **literally** beat the corpse into a bloody pulp. Once finished, he gazed at the skull and crushed the bone and brain matter with a single hand. He then looked to the bolts protruding from his body and tore them out one by one, unfazed by any pain that would've caused any normal man to faint. Retrieving his weapon, he then made his way back down the stone path towards the southernmost uruk outpost as another whisper moved across the air, accompanied by only the drops of rain.

Talion and Celebrimbor were very careful not to make a sound as who or whatever this thing was passed by. Once they were satisfied it was safe, Talion was the first to speak. "That thing is **not** human."

"Quiet!" His wraith compatriot urged as he crouched in the mud next to the ranger. Talion obeyed and listened carefully, but could only hear the indecipherable sounds that seemed to emanate from whatever just tore through the uruk stronghold. Celebrimbor's eyebrows suddenly shot up and he let out a light gasp.

"What is it?" The former captain inquired.

"Do you recall when I said there is more to that man than meets the eye?"

"Vaguely, yes."

"He is guided by an unseen spirit that appears to be his deceased mother."

Talion had to shake his head to make sure he heard his Elven friend correctly. "How do you know this?"

"Could you not hear her voice, Talion?" A quick shake of his head gave him a reply. "No matter, before he eliminated the warchief, she said: 'He will only kill more little ones like you, do you want that to happen?'"

"The whispers." Talion muttered. "And when he left?"

"She said: 'Good job, Jason. Now be a darling and find the one who let his own little boy die and kill him for mother.'"

Silence then followed. Five minutes went by before Talion spoke. "So his name is Jason?" A nod from the wraith gave him confirmation. "We're going to need a force twice as large as the one we used to siege The Tower's fortress in order to strike him down."

"Agreed. Shall we go to Udun and recruit the warchiefs there before returning to conscript the remaining warchiefs here?" The Ring-smith asked.

"To Udun then."


	3. The Draft

"You will serve!" Celebrimbor's form demanded as he burned his mark into the warchief's flesh.

The bulky, dual axe wielding uruk continued to kneel as he slowly nodded. "I'm yours to command, master."

"Return to your outpost until I tell you otherwise." Talion ordered. The warchief obeyed and returned to the western-most collection of ruins that served as a command post for the uruks.

"Just three remain." The Ring-smith informed his ranger counterpart.

Sheathing Urfael, the former captain began walking towards the southern base where the statue of Sauron now lay in ruins. "I still find it hard to believe we need an army this large to defeat one man."

"Whatever he is, Jason is **not** a man." The elf interjected. "Unless that is, you know another of your kind who could possibly wreak such havoc inside an uruk stronghold?"

"Myself." He answered with a light chuckle.

"But although your form resembles a man, men are mortal. You however…"

"Are banished from death, yes Celebrimbor." Talion declared with a loud sigh, exhausted by his compatriot's constant reminder that no matter how many times his enemies struck him down, he would rise again and again. "But this Jason has yet to be killed. Perhaps he is just immune to pain."

At this statement, Celebrimbor wondered how the civilization of man had lasted as long as they had. They knew basic military formations and had brute strength, but that was about it. "No. Because if you recall, his mother said that Jason had already been killed by another uruk."

"Yes… 'He will only kill more like you.' That's what she said?" A nod of affirmation was the reply. "So he's killing out of revenge then, not unlike ourselves."

The conversation would've continued, but they arrived at their destination and needed to focus on the task at hand. After a few minutes of debating, Ranger and Wraith agreed it would be better if they recruited the warchief's bodyguard due to his poisonous sword, deft movements and the fact that he was brother to another warchief on their list.

"Interesting…" Celebrimbor announced as they observed from a distance after luring out the warchief and the Bright Lord's target.

"What is?" Talion replied, trying to remain focused.

"The bodyguard appears to be part of the dark tribe."

"Tribe?"

"Yes, the uruks appear to have split themselves into nine factions and are occupying the fortresses of Mordor." Talion decided to let his friend talk as he leapt from the watchtower where he'd be observing the arrival of the warchief and landed twenty feet in front of the group of three.

"Tark!" A deep voice belonging to the warchief Flak face-eater shouted. "Well, well, well. Looks like some more meat for the slaughter, boys!" Talion's target, Olrok the Arbiter laughed and grinned maliciously while the final one, a drunk named Kruk squinted and tried to keep his grip on his blade.

"Meat? Where-where's thu meat? I'm hungry. And-and thirsty." He slurred out. Talion allowed the Olrok and his boss to charge while Kruk stumbled behind completely wasted out of his mind. It could hardly be considered combat when he used Celebrimbor's power of the shadow to move to his location, strike Kruk to the ground with the back of his hand and drag Acharn across his neck, blood spewing freely onto the ground and Dirhael's blade. Kruk's death drove Flak into a wild rage as he struck with both shield and pike towards Talion, only for him to fire three arrows into his skull, disorienting him severely. Olrok remained unfazed as he sprinted then slid behind Talion before taking a slash with his blade, only nicking his flesh.

"You fight well, for an orc." Talion declared as he smirked.

To his surprise, the uruk smirked back before replying. "And you stand well for a man who's just been poisoned." The man's heart rate skyrocketed as he remembered the blade's nearly fatal trait. It just made it that much more difficult as Olrok went on the offensive, sheathing his sword and drawing two smaller, curved blades that hung from his hips. Unable to see most of the strikes, three out of four managed to land, causing Talion to lose blood extremely quickly. With all his focus on Olrok, both the Ranger and Wraith had forgotten about his boss who then stabbed him in the stomach, causing them to kneel. Flak then shook his head as he let go of his shield and raised the pike, ready to deliver the fatal blow.

"I can't wait to do this again." He declared with a grin. Then, when the hit was supposed to arrive, it was not Talion who let out a dying groan, but Flak himself when a crossbow bolt struck his unprotected heart. Astonished, Talion looked around to see the first warchief they'd recruited since arriving in Udun standing atop a watchtower over half a kilometre away with a wide grin, still aiming down his crossbow as he fired another bolt, this one going clean through Flak's skull, taking bone and brain matter with it.

The Bright Lord apparently weren't the only ones surprised as Olrok could only gawk as his boss was shot down and the opponent he had in the palm of his hand rise up and continue fighting. With the fight now three-on-one, he attempted to dodge bolts from the incredibly accurate orc and strikes from the enemy directly in front of him and failed miserably as a combined shot to the knee slowed him severely while Talion's sword scraping across his chest forced him to his knees.

Olrok chuckled as Talion decided his fate. "Not bad, I will admit." Celebrimbor converted him into their force and began healing his wounds. "It'll be an honor to fight by your side, master."

"Then fall back." They then looked to Skun, the marksman who saved the day. "Both of you." Skun gave another grin and a salute while Olrok strode off. Once they both departed, Celebrimbor phased next to the Ranger.

"It would seem as though our army is acknowledging our generosity."

"Yes…" Talion agreed. "We will need both their strength and loyalty in order to defeat Jason."

"As well as a variety of tactics." The Wraith chimed in.

"Indeed. The only ones we need are a hunter and defender."


	4. The Final Battle

The Bright Lord had returned to Nurn with four warchiefs in tow; Skun the Sniper, Olrok the Arbiter, Thrak Venom-Spear and Dugz the Decaying. Talion and Celebrimbor were unable to find a formidable enough defender to add to their ranks. They made the decision to overtake the entire stronghold of Executioner's Watch in the southwest as Jason was busy slaughtering the remaining orcs at the fishery. With all the warchiefs and their soldiers decimating Sauron's forces, Talion calmly strode through the fort and made a mental note that it was **still** raining. The weather had still not let up and the ranger wondered what might've brought this meteorological phenomenon. Sure, it rained in Nurn, but not nearly for this long.

"YOU!" A deep shout echoed off the walls of the base. Shocked, the Ranger's head snapped towards a bulky, heavily armored uruk wearing a skull mask, bearing a metal shield and flaming pike standing by the dwindling campfire in the middle of the outpost.

"Celebrimbor?" He inquired.

The Elven smith was already using the wraith world to learn the orc's name. "Tuka the Destroyer, part of the machine tribe and has mastered the ability to tame and ride caragors. Certainly a valuable asset." He advised. Talion silently agreed and drew his sword as chaos emerged all around them.

"Well, I already killed one pink skin today, another certainly won't hurt… me!" Tuka let out a malicious chuckle.

 _'One pink skin'?_ Talion thought. _But Lithariel left Nurn…perhaps he means one of the tribesman?_ He had no time to dwell further on the thought as Tuka rushed forward with his shield raised, colliding with the ranger and knocking him to the ground. While Talion fought, Celebrimbor scanned their enemy's weaknesses and after five minutes of fighting that didn't go in the Ranger's favor, the Bright Lord's loyal captains decided to lend a hand.

Skun fired a bolt into Tuka's armored leg, the tip of the missile entering his flesh while Olrok rolled over his head and stabbed him in the back. Much to the observing warrior's surprise however, Tuka then elbowed the assassin in the head with his shield arm before kicking him away, the poison having no effect whatsoever. They fought for what seemed like ages, every orc under Talion and Celebrimbor's command desperately trying to bring down this monster of an uruk and making very little progress. During the fighting, Talion made the decision to disappear into the large tower that overlooked the entire compound and ordered his captains to fall back for now.

Tuka plunged his burning pike through the stomach of one orc, turned to face the one throwing spears at him and marched forth with his shield raised. Once he got close enough, he swiftly put stowed his shield and pike on his back and rushed forth to tackle the hunter to the ground. With metal clad hands, Tuka relentlessly beat the grunt's face in before igniting a bomb, shoving it down the other's mouth and keeping his boot on his face before diving away to avoid the mess of blood, bone and sinew that followed. Panting, Tuka looked around for the leader of his lord's forces, finding nothing.

From atop the tower, Celebrimbor gazed on in admiration. "An impressive display of might if nothing else." Talion gave a grunt of acknowledgment and waited until Tuka was directly underneath them, then jumped. The Destroyer's head slammed against the hard stone of the ground but before he could rise, Talion branded him and peered into his mind, unbelieving at what he was seeing.

Tuka had met Jason in one-on-one combat, using his many bombs to set the revenant aflame before plunging his pike into Jason's throat, then used his brute strength to drag Jason to a kneeling stance then lit three explosives, all of which went into the hole in his neck and obliterated his skull, leaving a smoking torso that fell back lifeless.

"Tell me who to gut, boss." Tuka declared as Talion removed his hand.

"Stand." Tuka obeyed. "Do you know who it was that you killed?"

"Another man, one who didn't quite possess the same combat abilities that you do, my lord."

"Hmph." Talion grunted out. "Everyone to the square!" The other four captains reconvened with their master in the middle of the outpost and received orders to gather all the troops they could, save for Tuka who remained by Talion's side as he interrogated his newest addition and explaining just who Jason was.

"But boss, if he's like you and can't be killed, how are we supposed to get rid of him?" The orc inquired as lightning struck the ground far away.

Talion heaved a frustrated sigh. "We'll have to capture and restrain him, then toss him into a pit so deep even Sauron won't be able to find him."

"A task much easier spoken than preformed." Celebrimbor added, to which Talion gave a grunt of agreement.

"How many soldiers follow your leadership?" He asked Tuka.

The giant orc chuckled. "They follow me out of fear, not my leadership, boss. But to answer your question, around two score."

 _Forty, so if our other warchiefs can get at least twenty to follow them, our army should be large enough to take down Jason._ Talion thought.

"Or they may only be lambs to the slaughter." The Ring-smith interjected.

Although the statement may have been a bit pessimistic, Talion had to admit that maybe Celebrimbor was right and that Jason would wipe them out without so much as a scratch.

No, he couldn't think like that. The Bright Lord had enough problems with Sauron and they shouldn't be worrying about another man who simply refused to die. Tuka was then ordered to round up his soldiers and meet his master across the bridge at the entrance to the outpost along with the other warchiefs they had brought down from Udun.

Standing between two sections of a broken wall on a rotting wooden board, Talion and Celebrimbor addressed their army of orcs over one hundred strong with Tuka at their side. Entering the wraith world for a moment, they could see Jason slowly walking towards their position from the Nurn fishery when he had just annihilated yet another garrison.

"Make it swift." Talion advised as Celebrimbor took partial control of Talion's body and addressed the crowd as the Bright Lord.

"Sauron is not the only threat to our campaign now. There is now a man bent on seeking vengeance for his family." Some of the orcs looked at each other, confused. "This man is determined to rid Middle-Earth of all life; Sauron, ourselves and you as well as your blood-brothers. So what will you do this day? Fight alongside those around you for survival or run and hide like cowards until your heads are removed from your bodies?"

Dead silence followed until Tuka began slowly tapping his pike on the wooden boards and more uruk defenders did the same while the others pounded on their chest plates with armored gauntlets, roaring savagely.

"LET THOSE WHO DARE TO STAND AGAINST US KNOW THAT YOU DID NOT FLEE THIS DAY! LET SAURON AND HIS SERVANTS KNOW THAT THEY ARE NOT THE ONES MEANT TO RULE THIS WORLD! Celebrimbor shouted over the battle cries of his uruks.

Jason was now close to his destination, striding along the path paved by the uruks. Upon seeing him, Celebrimbor drew his sword, pointed it at Jason and gave the order. "DAG I UAN!" A phrase Talion recognized as 'slay the monster.' And his uruks did just that.

Jason broke into a slow run as the two forces clashed with Jason effortlessly swinging his blade through the necks of five uruks in a single sweep and a hunter threw a spear into his shoulder that Jason removed and threw back, impaling its sender and the two uruks behind him.

One of the uruks with a cursed weapon managed to stab Jason in the gut with his sword and thinking he had killed the man, grinned. What he did not know was that since Jason was already bound to undeath by another curse, this one only served to strengthen him. Jason seized the uruk's throat and head butted him with such force that the uruk's skull shattered on impact.

But the uruks were still in their battle fury and were not about to cease their attack anytime soon. Defenders surrounded Jason with their shields as the marksmen fired from over their comrade's shoulders, making Jason look like a human pincushion. The bolts did nothing to faze him and as one defender attempted to stab him in the chest, Jason grabbed the blade of the pike and pulled which made the uruk stumble forth before being cleaved in half with a single effortless slash. He then went through the opening to avoid being surrounded again and massacred his way through the Bright Lord's forces.

Talion and Celebrimbor could hardly believed what they were witnessing. Within the span of twenty seconds, Jason had killed just as many of their soldiers and showed no signs of stopping. At this rate, everyone would be dead within two minutes so they unanimously decided to provide fire support from their position.

As the first arrow struck Jason in the back of the head, it sent him stumbling forth. When he looked back, his enemy was lining up another shot. A warrior attempted a downward slash at the revenant and with his free arm, wrapped it around the uruk's neck and faced Talion before he realized what Jason was doing. He loosed the arrow and it instantly killed his own soldier. Jason let the body drop and he began hacking his way through the bodies to their master.

Talion fired arrow after arrow but for some reason, his focus ability did not affect Jason as he moved at a normal speed, allowing Jason plenty of time to use an uruk for a shield.

They continued like this for another minute, close to a hundred of Talion's soldiers lying on the ground as Jason continued his relentless assault, most of his outfit completely black from the blood of his foes as he showed no signs of stopping. The soulless eyes that lie behind the mask contained no mercy however and the only thing on Jason's mind was the death of all those who would kill or let young children like himself die.

Talion nodded at his five warchiefs, a signal to begin their own attack. Olrok was first to strike by sliding on the muddy ground behind Jason followed up by a stab in the back with his poisoned blade, a tactic that would've worked if Jason had blood instead of unparalleled fury flowing through his veins. The man retaliated by turning around with the blade still in his back and delivered a devastating blow to the side of Olrok's skull before removing the sword from his spine and wielding it in his left hand. Dugz the Decaying, a berserker who wielded a pair of cursed axes was the next to assault as he tried a simple diagonal slash which should've been simple but was countered when Jason used his machete to hold the blades in place at chest height and slammed Olrok's poisoned blade into the other warchief's skull. The uruk's eyes rolled back in his head and the corpse was kicked away with tremendous force at Tuka, who blocked the odd projectile and advanced slowly.

While Skun, Thrak and Tuka held him off, Talion reached for another arrow but found none left. Even as he looked around, the ranger found that there was no possible way he could assist from his current position. He made to draw Urfael and assist his few remaining soldiers but Celebrimbor stopped him.

"No." The Ring-smith ordered.

Angered, Ranger turned on the Wraith. "If we don't help our troops, Jason will kill us!"

Celebrimbor nodded. "Then we return and kill him, he will return and return the favor which will be returned yet again by us."

Talion's anger quickly faded as Jason rapidly slashed five large gashes in Thrak's chest before turning his attention to the last two orcs. "What do you propose then? We can't reason with him to call a truce!"

"Maybe you can't reason with him and I don't think I can either." The Elf admitted. "But I can reason with his mother, the one who controls him."

The former captain sighed resignedly. "So the future of middle-earth rests on your ability to communicate with another undead spirit?" A statement that received a quick nod from the Bright Master. "Very well." Talion then clenched his left fist as it glowed blue.

Tuka was lusting for battle. "It's not everyday I get to kill the same piece of man-filth twice. This should be fun." He declared with a maniacal laugh. Just before he could begin his attack however, his head began to shake uncontrollably which caused severe pain to the uruk. Tuka clenched his skull and let out a blood-curdling cry of pain before the skull exploded into blood and bone fragments onto Jason's clothes.

The thing that attacked Jason suddenly fell forward and behind him, the man who let his son die leapt to ground level. Jason sent a glare his way and turned his head towards Pamela, his dearly departed mother. "Do it Jason, kill him for mother." The man obeyed and strode towards his target before the other one who let his daughter die suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Jason, you know you can't kill us just as we know we can't kill you. I would like to speak to your mother if that's alright with you." The ghost-thing declared. Jason's reply was to swing his deadly machete at the spectre, hitting nothing but air.

"Jason sweety, just wait." Slightly frustrated, the massive man reluctantly obeyed and relaxed.

Talion made his way in front of Jason while Celebrimbor conversed with the other revenant's mother. This was the first time they had stood in front of each other without the intent to murder one another and although Talion had considered himself tall for the average man, Jason was easily a full head taller than him. His clothes were stained with the blood of over one hundred orcs, giving off a very pungent aroma that was sure to inspire fear in the most stalwart of orcs. Talion just hoped Celebrimbor's plan worked otherwise they would have no time dealing with Sauron.

After what seemed like an hour of conversation, Celebrimbor nodded and gave Talion the gist of their agreement. The other revenant would help them in their quest to destroy Sauron on the condition that if they ran into anyone who through action or inaction, let a child die, Jason would be the one to tear their skull from their bodies. Considering how that could've applied to just about any soldier in the Gondorian army, Talion was hesitant but saw no other option as he agreed. Celebrimbor relayed the information onto Pamela who then told Jason, the large man giving the ranger a nod before extending his hand in friendship. Talion took it and the pact was made.

Jason would stand by Talion's side as his permanent bodyguard as Ranger and Wraith crafted a new ring, amassed an army of uruks and conquered the fortresses of Mordor.

It was also explained that the reason it rained in Jason's presence was it was the waters of the lake he originally drowned it that now helped to heal him after a battle. The waters themselves however were corrupted with Jason's curse and would not nourish the plant or animal life. Over time, the Ranger actually grew to form a bond with the other man and Jason also had to admit that he didn't hate Talion as much as he used to.

When the time came that Celebrimbor would betray Talion and leave his body, Jason stood upon the bridge to Barad-Dur while the Ranger gasped for breath, reaching for Isildur's ring. It was Jason who kicked it to him and they continued to fight together as undead spirits hell bent on vengeance.

The two of them truly were kindred spirits.


End file.
